Working for the biggest boxing promotional entity in the sport, traveling is a huge part of Top Rank photographer Chris Farina’s job and late last night the Las Vegas resident touched down in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to handle more business. The objective of this trip? To cover Accra, Ghana Welterweight Joshua Clottey in training as he gears up for a huge March 13th showdown with pound for pound phenom Manny Pacquiao.
Farina woke up Wednesday morning and made his way to Contender’s Gym off of Sunrise and I-95. Despite the rain coming down Farina easily found Michael Irving Park and soon set his sights on getting inside of the gym, which was located in the back of the structure. Upon entering the facility and seeing Clottey train first hand, Farina was impressed.
“Clottey looked awesome,” Farina said. “He’s completely ripped and toned. He was punching his sparring partners around the ring. He was going to knock out one of the guys with thunderous punches. It seems to me that they are almost slowing him down and backing him off because they don’t want him to peak too early. That was just my impression. He looks like he’s ready to jump through the building.”
Despite initial reports that his training camp wasn’t running smoothly due to confusion in his corner, Clottey appears to be completely primed for the contest. With less than three weeks to go towards the biggest fight of his life Farina notes that the former IBF Welterweight champion seems completely at peace with the world.
“[He’s] totally at ease. He was relaxed and calm. I was at his house that he is staying at he is just laid back guy. He’s a super guy. He’s like Pacquiao. He does basically anything you want him to do and they are very accommodating type of fighters. They are hardly any egos involved here.”
With his work in Florida complete Farina will now head back to his bases in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Next on tap for the always busy photographer will be a trip to New York in early March for more coverage in relation to the March 13th event. Stay tuned for more…
Author: Chris Robinson
Source: examiner.com
No comments:
Post a Comment